Rarely will you hear an encouraging word about the Buffaloes.

After Saturday night’s 28-10 loss to the Cornhuskers, the only description of the Colorado football team’s performance was “stinking.”

Besides Travis “Big Game” Hunter with 10 receptions for 110 yards (but no touchdowns) and Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig With 11 solo tackles (three for lost yards), the CU players and coaches do not deserve a single silver or gold star.

Nebraska is back, and Colorado is back in full force. Forget about national playoff appearances. Ignore a conference championship game. Don’t even think about a winning record.

The only positive for Deion Sanders now is “AFLAC!” Duck, CU.

At least CU won’t have to play NU for a long time, if it ever happens. The Huskers have a real team for the first time in years. Good for the Nebraskans. They’ve been saving their bowl trip money forever and can finally spend it on a vacation in Florida, California or somewhere warm this year. The Cornhuskers aren’t playoff-worthy either, but they certainly won’t look foolish this season and might even become relevant in the Big 10.

Coach ‘Prime’ and the reorganized Boulder mercenaries were unprepared for a big match against a team that was bigger, stronger, faster and more skilled.

It could be a very long fall.

The Buffs still don’t have a protective offensive line or any kind of running game or defensive front or anything — including quarterback Shedeur Sanders, who won’t win a Heisman Trophy and is mostly a moving target. Sanders completed 23 of 38 passes for 244 empty yards with one touchdown and one horrible interception that resulted in a single touchdown.

Celebrities and media types won’t be showing up in Colorado this season. These Buffs look like the Buffs who lost six straight last year and went 4-8. The first season of returning to the Big 12 could look like the departure season of the late, not-so-great Pac 12. Does CU look like it can win 5, 6, 7 games? Not if the Buffs look like they did in Lincoln’s Memorial Stadium.

The game in Fort Collins against Colorado State, which played the University of Northern Colorado on Saturday, will be a serious challenge.

And the Buffaloes’ only hope is that the now 16-team Big 12 Conference doesn’t pose a threat to winning a national championship or sending more than one school to the 12-team playoffs.

Sanders, the coach, had said all spring and summer that the biggest fixes would be on the offensive line and running back. But the line wasn’t Hoover Dam, and the Cornhuskers sacked Sanders, the quarterback, six times and chased him everywhere.

Colorado’s rushing total was 16 yards. Yes, 16. Sounds familiar for ’24. Sanders the Younger, of course, had eight runs for minus-30, and Dallan Hayden had five carries for 32 yards. But Charlie Offerdal was 4 for 4, backup QB Ryan Staub 3 for 4, and Isaiah Augustave 2 for 6. The Buffs had one double-digit running attempt.

But two fourth-and-one players were ridiculous and quit. What did Sanders The Elder, or good ol’ Pat Shurmur, the offensive coordinator, think? Apparently not.

Hype and hope is the strategy.

Sanders the Other (Shiloh, the defensive back) left the field injured and was diagnosed with a broken forearm. He may not play the rest of the season.

Shadeur would outshine Nebraska freshman Dyland Raiola, who idolizes and imitates Patrick Mahomes. Raiola isn’t the Second Coming, but he was an efficient 23-of-30 for 185 yards and a score. More importantly, the Huskers rushed 35 times for 149 yards. No one is ready to crown the Cornheads, but Nebraska has had as many weak quarterbacks as the Denver Broncos for years.

To be honest, Colorado is not a good team. The Buffs survived North Dakota State, but may not have as much luck against three other “State” teams and a trip to Disney World.

Coach Sanders only wants words of encouragement from the mass media and the many fans.

He won’t get them.

Woody Paige has been a sports and general columnist in Colorado for the Rocky Mountain News, The Denver Post, The Gazette and The Denver Gazette since 1974. He has been a commentator for the ESPN network for 20 years on six different shows. [email protected]